UAE Hotels Lean On Short-Haul Markets To Drive Recovery

Airlinesskift.com23 Oct

UAE Hotels Lean On Short-Haul Markets To Drive Recovery

Hotel operators in the UAE are relying on travelers from short-haul markets such as India, China and Russia to support their recovery from the worst impacts of the U.S.-Iran war, as higher airfares continue to keep away some long-haul guests.

“We’re targeting short-haul markets like India, China, and Russia, that are a five- to six-hour flight away,” said Saurabh Tiwari, vice president for the Middle East, Maldives and Sri Lanka at IHCL, which operates the Taj brand. “Since jet fuel prices are more expensive than before, it is hard to expect people to come from long-haul markets like the Americas or Australia. Attracting visitors from long-haul [markets] is going to be wishful thinking.”

India has been IHCL’s most reliable source market through the crisis, Tiwari said, because of its accessibility and lower flight prices compared to long-haul destinations. At the same time, cheaper rooms are now making Dubai more affordable to travelers who previousl

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Tags: abu dhabi, dubai, hotels, short term rentals, uae, unrest

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Airlinesskift.com23 Oct

Who Owns a Traveler’s Connectivity? Airlines, Hotels, and Platforms Share the Responsibility

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

A traveler lands in a new country and reaches for a phone. The boarding pass, hotel address, ride-hailing app, maps, payment tools, and messages all live there, and every one of them assumes a working connection.

Without a reliable connection, even routine parts of the journey can become challenging. A hotel may lose contact with an arriving guest, a ride-hailing service may be unable to connect a passenger with a driver, and an airline’s digital services may become inaccessible at a critical moment.

That was the central challenge that Richard Trinder, senior director of strategic partnerships at Holafly, an travel eSIM provider, discussed with Dan Marcec, intelligence editor at Skift, at Skift Global Forum 2026. No single travel company controls the entire journey, yet a connectivity failure can affect the experience travelers associate with every brand involved. For Trinder, addressing that vulnerability requires closer partnerships and making connectivity part of the travel experience from the outset.

“The smartphone has increasingly become the control center of our lives,” Trinder said. It holds boarding passes, payment tools, maps, messages, and, increasingly, digital identity documents. When the phone cannot connect, much of the trip can become inaccessible at once. With a boarding pass on the phone, he said, losing connectivity is “a crisis.”

The growing dependence on smartphones has also changed travelers’ expectations. Trinder pointed out that consumers have spent decades getting accustomed to seamless, on-demand digital experiences. They now expect the same reliability when traveling, even as they move between countries, networks, and service providers.

Those transitions are particularly vulnerable. Trinder highlighted international border crossings, where changes in connectivity zones can interrupt service, and airport Wi-Fi, which can be patchy, insecure, and susceptible to cyberattacks. The consequences become more serious when travelers need to retrieve information or communicate during a disruption.

As Marcec pointed out, a hotel has no control over an airport’s connectivity failure, but it still faces the consequences when a guest cannot communicate with the hotel. Trinder warned that these breakdowns can affect customer satisfaction, brand perception, loyalty, and the likelihood of a repeat purchase.

“Today, the consumer has zero tolerance for friction,” he said.

Marcec compared connectivity to basic hotel amenities like clean water and air conditioning: Travelers expect them to work and only notice when they don’t. Trinder agreed that connectivity has become a basic need, “just like the air we breathe and the water we drink.”

At Holafly, that thinking informs a company-wide emphasis on traveler peace of mind. He described it as providing travelers with a sense of confidence, security, and safety by anticipating connectivity issues before they arise.

The stakes can be personal as well as practical. Trinder described a business traveler facing a deadline or someone who needs to reach family with an urgent message. In either case, the inability to connect can turn an already stressful situation into something more serious.

His argument was that travel companies should make every effort to pre-empt these moments rather than leave customers to solve connectivity problems themselves. A relatively small part of the overall travel purchase can have a disproportionate effect on the experience when something goes wrong.

Delivering that peace of mind requires coordination across companies that may otherwise have little to do with one another. Airlines, hotels, booking platforms, and connectivity providers each control different parts of the experience, while travelers increasingly expect those services to work together.

Marcec connected the discussion to a broader theme at Skift Global Forum: Travel companies, including Uber and Airbnb, are looking for ways to take greater ownership of the customer experience. But even as companies expand their reach, they remain dependent on services outside their control.

“No one travel provider or travel company in this room owns the journey end-to-end completely,” Trinder said. “We have to partner up.”

For Holafly, that means changing how connectivity is sold and delivered. Rather than treating an eSIM as a separate purchase, Trinder wants travel brands to incorporate connectivity directly into their booking processes and digital services.

“We’re trying to move away from a reseller or vendor mentality and absolutely integrate it into the buying flow of how a journey happens,” he said.

Through application programming interfaces and software development kits, connectivity can sit within a partner’s app and purchasing flow rather than appearing as a separate product later. The case for doing so is practical: brands have already invested in their apps, and they don’t get the full value from them when a connection breaks.

Trinder pointed to maritime travel as one opportunity for this approach. Passengers at sea can move between connectivity zones or experience service blackouts, creating challenges that a travel provider may struggle to address alone. With coverage across more than 200 destinations, Holafly sees opportunities to work with global travel companies to reduce those interruptions.

But Trinder emphasized that technical integration alone will not solve the problem. He pointed to joint business plans as a way for companies to agree on shared objectives, responsibilities, and measures of success. Those measures can include ancillary revenue and other economic benefits alongside improvements to the traveler experience.

He also returned to a theme raised elsewhere at the forum: the importance of human intelligence as companies adopt more sophisticated technology.

“We need humans to talk to each other in companies,” Trinder said. Partnerships can take multiple forms, and coordinating them requires people to work through the behind-the-scenes complexity so travelers don’t have to.

The importance of maintaining access becomes particularly clear when a trip does not go according to plan. A delayed connection, unexpected layover, or disruption caused by severe weather or geopolitical events can leave travelers needing information and assistance at precisely the moment their connectivity is most vulnerable.

Trinder offered Holafly’s Always On as an example of how connectivity providers can help address that problem. He described the product as a foundational layer of data that remains available for emergencies, with a particular focus on business travelers.

The idea is to ensure that travelers retain enough connectivity to handle essential tasks when their plans change unexpectedly. As Trinder explained, the value lies in knowing that a traveler can still access data when something goes wrong, without having to address a new connectivity problem in the middle of a disruption.

“Always On will give you that peace of mind that you’re okay,” he said. “You can do the emergency things you need to do.”

The conversation also raised a longer-term question: What happens as travel companies build more of the customer experience around AI-powered services?

Marcec pointed out that the industry is investing in agentic AI and digital customer service, but those tools still depend on travelers being connected. Without reliable access, even the most sophisticated digital services may be unavailable when customers need them.

Trinder argued that companies should prepare by integrating connectivity into their existing services and purchasing flows now. While the implications of agentic AI are still taking shape, he sees app

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Airlinesindependent.co.uk23 Oct

What is the new 14-day refund rule in the updated EU passenger rights?

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Travellers will gain stronger passenger rights in Europe next year as new EU rules require faster refunds on cancelled flights and free plane seats for companions.

The European Union (EU) Parliament gave the green light on Tuesday, 20 October, to update rules that will strengthen the protection of passenger rights across all modes of transport.

EU passenger rights rules apply to any passenger travelling by air, rail, ship, bus and coach across the EU, regardless of their nationality or citizenship.

The Parliament voted almost unanimously in favour (652 votes) of the regulation, with two votes against and eight abstentions.

The updated rules will take effect from 23 October 2027 after the European Council formally approves the regulation.

The new rules tighten the time limit for travellers to receive refunds on cancelled flights booked through intermediaries, such as a travel agent or a booking platform.

Passengers are now entitled to receive a full refund, including intermediary fees, within 14 days of their flight being cancelled.

The airline must transfer the payment to the intermediary within a maximum of seven days, and the intermediary must transfer it to the passenger within a further seven days.

Intermediaries must also make it clear to passengers at the time of booking how the reimbursement arrangements work.

If passengers book directly with an airline, they should receive a refund within seven days, although this rule has long been in place, whereas the updated rules relate specifically to intermediary bookings.

Under the new rules, the EU has also made it clearer and easier for passengers to submit claims for reimbursement or compensation by using a standardised form.

The form will be available on the European Commission’s website in all languages and for all types of travel, or carriers can provide an equivalent form.

The third update centred around improved rights for vulnerable passengers.

People with disabilities or reduced mobility can now bring an accompanying person on a flight free of charge “if their presence is necessary”.

This is already the case for travel by bus, train or ship, but airlines will now have to implement this rule.

The final new regulation relates to enforcing passenger rights rules. The EU said national authorities will be given enhanced powers for investigating possible breaches of passenger rights.

They will be able to proactively initiate audits, inspections or interviews of carriers, not only after receiving passenger complaints.

Italian MEP and member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism Matteo Ricci said this regulation is “prioritising the rights of our citizens over the profits of airlines”.

He added: “Travelling is part of our lives. Whether we catch a train to work, a bus for a trip, a plane to return home, or a ferry for holiday, we all share these journeys as passengers. This legislation will improve the protection these travellers receive.”

Read more: Cancelled or delayed flights – what are my rights to a refund?

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Airlinesthepointsguy.com23 Oct

American Airlines baggage fees and how to avoid paying them

Quick summaryAmerican Airlines' checked baggage fees vary by route, fare type and elite status, with specific rules for domestic and international flights.All passengers are allowed one carry-on bag and one personal item at no extra cost, regardless of fare type.Overweight and oversized bags incur additional charges, and certain sports equipment may have separate fees or restrictions.Travelers can avoid checked bag fees through elite status, premium cabin tickets or by using select travel rewards cards that offer statement credits.

What to considerChecked bag allowances and fees differ by destination, with stricter limits and higher fees for some international routes and oversized items.Elite status and premium cabin tickets provide increased free baggage allowances, but benefits from status and travel cards cannot be combined.Some sports equipment, like scuba tanks and windsurfing gear, incur fixed fees regardless of other allowances.

What you'll miss from the articleA detailed breakdown of American Airlines' baggage fees by route, fare class and tips for maximizing free baggage allowances.Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

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